Squeegee attachment for vacuum cleaner



July 7, 1959 l K. c; THOMPSON 2,893,046

SQUEEGEE ATTACHMENT FOR VACUUM CLEANER Filed Feb. 18, 1954 .I0 J6v .2912l@ 25 Z3 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent vSQUEEGEE ATTACHMENT FOR VACUUM CLEANER Kenneth C.Thompson, Lyons, lll.

Application February 18, 1954, Serial No. 411,174

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-325) This invention relates to a squeegee attachmentfor a vacuum cleaner.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved vacuumcleaner attachment which includes a squeegee by means of which water maybe removed from a Hoor or other surface.

i" A further object of the` invention is to provide a squeegeeattachment which has a squeegee mounted for fore and aft swingingmovement in a slot in the attachmeut head, so that movement of the headin either direction with the squeegee bladeon a surface swings thesqueegee against the margin of theslot away from the direction ofmovement and leaves the slot in front of thelsqueegeeopentothe suctionfrom the cleaner hose. Thus, the attachmentpiclcs up water equally wellon thepush and on the pull strokes.

' 'A further object of the invention is to provide a squeegee vacuumcleaner #attachment in vwhich the blade may berapidly and easilychanged.

v A still 'further' object of the invention is to provide a squeegeeattachment for a vacuum cleaner in which no clos e iitting ofparts isrequired. j

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from thedescription, taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings,inwhich:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of the squeegee attachment of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken as indicated along the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the device;

Fig. 4 is a section taken as indicated along the line 4--4 of Fig. 2with the squeegee in the position which it occupies upon forwardmovement of the head;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with the squeegee in the positionwhich it occupes upon rearward movement of the head; and

Fg. 6 is a section taken as indicated along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring first to Fig.1, the squeegee attachment of this invention, indicated generally by theletter S, is shown frictionally secured to the lower end of aconventional vacuum cleaner attachment tube, or wand W, from which aflexible hose leads to a vacuum cleaner through a water collector, ifnecessary, in the usual manner.

The squeegee attachment S comprises an elongated head 10 and a slot 11which extends from end to end of the head and communications with alengthwise central air passage 12. Riveted to the top of the head 10above the air passage 12 is a hollow air conductor member 13 whichtapers into a rearwardly projecting fitting 14 to receive the vacuumcleaner attachment wand W. For simplicity and cheapness of manufacture,the head 10 may conveniently be made of wood while the air conductormember is preferably an aluminum casting.

As best seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the slot 11 is provided with a pair ofspaced shoulders 15 which dene the margins of a central longitudinalrecess 16 in the top of the slot.v Spaced inwardly from each end of thehead 10 is a hole 17 which extends through the head from front to rearin communication with the slot 10, immediately below vthe recess 16, anda pin 18 lits loosely into each hole so as t-o be freely slidabletherein. The pins 18 are retained in the holes 17 by a continuous moldedrubber guard band 19 which extends around the attach ment head 10 andhas a continuous internal rib 20 which engages a groove 21 encirclingthe head. The rubber guard band 19 serves the dual function ofprotecting furniture from damage if it is bumped by the attachment, andof retaining the pins 18. i

A squeegee, indicated generally at 22, has a U-shaped metal clamp 23 anda rubber'blade 24 the upper portion of which is embraced by the clamp.Adjacent the ends of the equeegee v22 are circular holes' 2S (see Fig.2) to receive the pins 18, so that the squeegee 22 is loosely supportedon the pins with its upper portion extending into the recess 16 4and'its rubber blade 24 projecting below Ithe attachment head 10.

' The loose, swinging'mounting of the squeegee 22 on the pins 18lpermits the lsqueegee to swing fore and aft inthe slot 11 in the mannershown in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 4, when theattachment S is pushedvforward the squeegee 22 swings rearwardly toplace the squeegee blade 24 in continuous and intimate contact with therear margin of the slot 11, leaving the front ofthe slot open to thesuction from the vacuum cleaner. Conversely, 'when the attachi ment S isdrawn rearwardly as shown by the arrow in Fig. 5, the squeegee swings onthe pins 18 until the rubber blade portion 24 similarly contacts theforward margin of the slot .11,Aleaving the rear of the slot open. Ineither case,the slot `is open adjacent the squeegee so that as` thesqueegee collects water by movement over- Y Iscription that the squeegeeattachment here disclosed makes eihcient use of the vacuum suction, isinexpensive to manufacture, and permits the blade to be very easilychanged. The slot 11 and recess 16 in the head 10 may be formed with anordinary milling cutter, and the air passage 12 is formed readily bydrilling and sawing. The loose t of the pins 18 in the holes 17 and theloose swinging mounting of the squeegee 22 in the pins 18 eliminates anyneed for close itting of parts. Likewise, the loose fit of the pins 18in the holes 17 permits an old squeegee to be removed from the head anda new one inserted merely by removing the rubber guard band 19 andletting the pins drop out of the holes.

The fore and aft swinging movement of the squeegee 22 assures that thesuction afforded by the vacuum cleaner will be most effectively used bybeing pulled only along the line immediately ahead of the squeegee bladewhere the water is piled up by the squeegee action.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understoodtherefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. A squeegee attachment for a vacuum cleaner comprising: an elongatedhead having a slot extending lengthwise of its lower surface and an airpassage communicating wit-h sa-id slot which -is adapted to receive avacuum cleaner hose; a -plurality of pins extending across said slot;and a squeegee having apertures in its upper portion looselyssurrminding'said pins, lsaid squeegee having a Alexible, resilientbl'a'de portion projecting below the head, and beingy swingable acrossthe slot by rocking movement on said pins sothat movement of the headwith the squeegee blade on a surface swings the squeegee against lthemargin of the slot awayfrorn the direction of movement and Aleaves theopposite Iside of the slot `open to lthe 'suction from the vacuumcleaner hose.

2. A squeegee attachment for a vacuum cleaner comprising: an elongatedhead having a slot Vextending lengthwise of its lower surface and an airpassage com municating with said Vslot which is adapted to communicatewith a vacuum cleaner hose, 'and a plurality of holes 'extending throughthe head normal to, 'and in communication with the slot; a pin looselymounted in 'each hole so 'as to extend Aacross the slot; removableresilient guard means surrounding the head and bearing on both ends ofthe pins to hold said pins in the holes; and a squeegee mounted on saidjpins with a ilexible, resilient blade portion projecting below thehead.

3. A squeegee attachment Vfor a'vacuurn cleaner comprising: an elongatedhead having a slot extending lengthwise vof its lower surface and anairvpassage communicating with said slot which is adapted to communicatewith a vacuum cleaner hose, and Aa `plurality of 'holes extendingthrough the head normal to, and in communication with said slot, therebeing a groove encircling the head; a pin loosely mounted in each h'oleso as'to extend across the slot; a removable, continuous resilient guard'band extending around the head and vbearing on -both ends of the pinsto hold the pins in the holes, said guard ban'd having rib means on itsinner surface engaging the external groove in the head; and -a squeegeemounted on said pins with a ilexible, resilient blade portion4projecting below the head.

4. A squeegee attachment for a vacuum cleaner comprising: an elongatedhead having a slot extending lengthwise of its lower surface which hasspaced shoulders defining the margins of a central recess in the top ofthe slot, there being a central air passage communicating with said slotwhich is adapted to communicate with a vacuum cleaner hose, a pair ofholes extending through the head normal to, and in communication withsaid slot below said recess, and a groove encircling the head; a pinloosely mounted in `each hole so as to extend across `the slot; aremovable, continuous, soft molded rubber guard band extending aroundthe head to hold the pins in the holes, said guard band having acontinuous rib on its inner surface engaging said groove;

' and a squeegee which has a U-shaped metal clamping portion providedwith apertures by means of which it is loosely supported on said pinsfor fore and aft swinging movement, and a rubber blade held in saidclamping portion which projects below Athe head, whereby movement of thehead with the squeegee blade on a. surface swings the blade against themargin of the slot away from the direction o'f movement and leaves theopposite side of the slot open to the suction from the vacuum cleanerhose, the margins of -the recess cooperating with the margins of theslot to limit swinging movement of the squeegee.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,529,282 Warner Mar. 10, 19,25

2,218,595 Yutzler Oct. 22, 1940 2,619,669 Cuddeback Dec. 2, 1952 FOREIGNPATENTS 6,212 Great Britain Feb. 14, 1908 36,310 Sweden Apr. 30, 191342,318 Switzerland Mar. 21, `1908

